The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America have issued a joint statement supporting the Federal Trade Commission’s changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

The changes “require companies to get permission from parents to collect a child’s photographs, videos and geolocational information” when the child is under 13, The Washington Post reported. “Companies such as Google and Viacom must also have a parent’s consent before using tracking tools, such as cookies, that use IP addresses and mobile device IDs to follow a child’s Web activity across multiple apps and sites.”

“We applaud the Federal Trade Commission and Chairman Jon Leibowitz for these important steps to keep children safe in the ever-evolving digital world,” said Helen Osman, the USCCB’s secretary of communications. “The Commission is to be especially commended for setting guidelines for website operators regarding the release of children's personal information to companies and for reasonable procedures for data retention and deletion.”

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